Blurb for workshop presentation: Individuality and subjectivity in animals in light of Umwelt temporality

I have just composed the blurb below for my invited presentation at a workshop to be held in May.

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Individuality and subjectivity in animals in light of Umwelt temporality  

In a biosemiotic understanding, all animals are endowed with an Umwelt as described by the German-Baltic biologist Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) in his classical Umwelt theory, which was developed in the period 1909–1940. In my work I have focused on developing perspectives on Umwelt temporality, starting with a notion of “Umwelt transition” (i.e., environmental change as seen from an Umwelt perspective). While some Umwelt transitions are regular (e.g. developmental), others represent historical events. Another central term in my work is “Umwelt trajectory”, representing the path through time taken by a living being as described by way of its changing relations to significant others. These notions may be applied in historical studies as well as futures studies. This provides us with a theoretical framework and methodology for studying animals as agents endowed with individual semiotic agency.